Jail Industries and Reentry
A Case for Funding Jails to Prepare Inmate
Workers for Post-Release Employment
Washington State
Jail Industries Board
Reentry Happens
While still fairly new in the criminal justice
vernacular, “reentry” is the latest term coined to
describe release from incarceration back to the
community. Regardless of the term we use,
this process occurs whether we prepare the
offender and the community, or not. We either
do it correctly or are doomed to repeat the
process again and again.
Dean Mason, Executive Director
Washington State Jail Industries Board
The Reentry Mother Lode
There are an estimated 12 million releases
from American jails each year, representing 9
million unique individuals (Beck, 2006).
[emphasis added]
Beck, A. J. (2006, June 27). The Importance of Successful Reentry
to Jail Population Growth. Presented to the Urban Institute Jail
Reentry Roundtable, Washington, DC.
In Perspective - National
Annual Releases from Jails and Prisons
12,000,000
10,000,000
8,000,000
Jail Releases
6,000,000
Prison Releases
4,000,000
650,000
2,000,000
0
Where Should We Intervene?
 Jails release 18+ offenders back to the community
for every prison release
 Jails often book and release the same offender two
or more times in a year
 The average offender will go to jail several times
before being sentenced and/or returned to prison
 Fifty-three percent of jail inmates were on probation, parole
or pretrial release at the time of arrest*
 Thirty-nine percent of jail inmates in 2002 had served 3 or
more prior sentences to incarceration or probation…*
*Criminal Offenders Statistics, Bureau of Justice Affairs
Revolving Door or Opportunity?
“NIC [National Institute of Corrections] shared that
on average a 1,000-bed jail turns over its beds 36
times in one year, totaling a population of 36,000.
Similarly, a 1,000-bed prison, again on average,
only turns over 750 beds annually, totaling a
population of 1,750. This gives a clear
understanding that jails are often dealing with
higher volume and far more turnover.”
Jails vs. Prisons, Daron Hall
Sheriff, Davidson County, Nashville, TN
Corrections Today, February 2006
A Different Approach Needed
“The national discussion on offender reentry has
focused primarily on individuals returning to the
community from prisons, with relatively little
attention given to the unique challenges and
opportunities surrounding those reentering the
community from jails. Yet there is a need for an
innovative, collaborative, data-driven approach to
jail transition.”
Assembling the Jail Reentry Puzzle, Jesse Jannetta
AMERICANJails, September/October 2009
Jail Facilities - National
 The latest data available indicates that throughout the
United States, more than 3,200 jail facilities were
distributed among 2,860 jail jurisdictions. [Beck 2006]
______________________________________________________
 At midyear 2008, 785,556 inmates were held in the nation's
local jails, up from 780,174 at midyear 2007.
 In 2008, jails reported adding 14,911 beds during the
previous 12 months, bringing the total rated capacity to
828,413
 95% of the rated capacity was occupied at midyear 2008.
U.S. Department of Justice – Bureau of Justice Statistics
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/jails.htm
Jail Populations - National
 From 2000 to 2008, the number of jail inmates per 100,000
U.S. residents rose from 226 to 258
 Almost nine out of every ten jail inmates were adult males.
However, the number of adult females in jail increased
faster than males
 Between 1990 and 2008, the number of Hispanic jail
inmates increased at a faster average annual rate of growth
(4.5%) than white (3.8%) and black inmates (3.3%)
 Blacks were three times more likely than Hispanics and five
times more likely than whites to be in jail
U.S. Department of Justice – Bureau of Justice Statistics
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/jails.htm
Jail Facilities – Washington
 37 of 39 Washington State Counties have a jail
 San Juan County has a temporary holding facility only
 Douglas County is a partner of the Chelan County Regional
Justice Center
 20 cities in Washington have a jail
 Washington Jails have a combined capacity of 15,298 beds
 89% of the rated capacity was occupied in 2008
 While some jails were occupied under rated capacity, twelve
jails (4 cities and 8 counties) were over-populated
Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC)
http://www.waspc.org/index.php?c=Jail%20Statistics
The Biggest
 King County was number 36 of the 50 largest jail
jurisdictions in the nation for 2008
 King County’s average daily population (ADP) for
2008 was 2,657 inmates
 Operating at 84%* of its rated capacity
U.S. Department of Justice – Bureau of Justice Statistics
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/jails.htm
*Discrepancy between ADP reported to BJS, data collected by the Washington Association
of Sheriff’s and Police Chiefs (WASPC), and data posted to King County website for 2008
– all data reported is within 2% of the USDOJ reported operating percentage
The Smallest
 Technically…San Juan County maintains a 72-hour holding
facility in Friday Harbor. Commitments from the court
system that exceed 48 hours are transferred to Island
County Correctional Facility in Coupeville.
 Columbia County jail was recently “remodeled” from 8
bunks to 11, but it is still the smallest jail in the state by one
bed
 Columbia County jail is also the oldest jail in the state,
originally built as a ship’s brig in 1874, purchased “used” for
$2,000, and incorporated into the construction of the county
courthouse in 1887
http://www.columbiacosheriff.com/columbia_county_jail_facility.htm
Jail Populations - Washington
 Washington State jails conducted approximately
295,000 individual bookings (intakes) in 2008*
 Of those bookings, roughly 8,000 were newly committed or
recommitted to prison
 While the numbers vary based on releases of inmates from
the previous year, release of those serving violation time
only, etc., 100% of the remainder not sentenced to prison
are released back to the community
 The average length of stay in a Washington State
jail in 2008 was 21.44 days*
*Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC)
combined with data from King and Lewis counties, the City of
Kirkland, and estimated bookings for the City of Fife
Prison Releases - Washington
 In 2008, the Washington State Department of
Corrections released 8,858 offenders who
completed their sentence
 757 of those released were to a jurisdiction other than in
Washington State
 DOC released 18,574 offenders from serving
additional incarceration time for violations of their
community supervision conditions
 55 - 60% of those violator sentences were completed in
local jails (estimated from the 2007-2009 decision package
on management of community violators)
Washington State Department of Corrections
Prison Releases by County - Fiscal Year 2008
In Perspective - Local
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000 Jail Releases*
Prison Releases*
100,000
50,000
0
2008 FY 2008
*Jail release numbers for calendar year 2008 are compared against prison release
numbers for fiscal year 2008; however, the graphical variance would change little
Local Research – Global Data
 The Washington State Institute for Public Policy
(WSIPP) conducts nonpartisan research at the
direction of the state’s legislature, and findings are
used to help inform public policymakers
 The institute conducted a systematic review of all
research evidence that could be located to determine
what works, if anything, to reduce crime
 This meta analysis of the research defined which
evidence-based programs produced favorable returns
on investment and, therefore, should inform public
policy for effective offender reentry planning
http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/rptfiles/09-00-1201.pdf
Significant Finding
“Serious crime is costly to victims and
taxpayers; our economic analysis for
Washington indicates that evidence-based -
and reasonably priced - programs that achieve
even relatively small reductions in crime can
produce attractive returns on investment.”
Evidence-Based Public Policy Options to Reduce Crime and Criminal Justice Costs:
Implications in Washington State
Elizabeth K. Drake, Steve Aos, and Marna G. Miller
Washington State Institute for Public Policy
Olympia, Washington, USA
What Works?
Sample of programs providing significant return on investment:
Effect on Victim Taxpayer Costs Net
Crime Benefits Benefits Benefits
Vocational -9.8% $14,504 $7419 $1,210 $20,714
Education
General -8.3% $12,319 $6,302 $985 $17,636
Education
Cognitive- -6.9% $10,234 $5,235 $107 $15,361
Behavioral
Therapy
Correctional -6.4% $9,518 $4,869 $427 $13,961
Industries
The return on investment for correctional industries is:
$32.70 for every $1 spent. (Net Benefits divided by Costs)
Application to Jail Industries
It is also important to note that the net benefits of
educational, vocational and cognitive-behavioral
therapy programs produce higher net benefits;
therefore, it can be assumed that a combination of
these programs with work while incarcerated in jail will
produce an even better prepared worker upon release*
*See note on next slide
General Vocational Cognitive- Jail Industries
Education Education Behavioral
Therapy
General Technical (Hard) Social Practical
Knowledge Skills (Soft) Skills Application
Application to Jail Industries
 While the research used by WSIPP to evaluate the
return on investment of correctional industries is based
on prison industries programs, a well-designed jail
industries program could garner similar net benefits*
 The fact that jail inmates release within weeks in most
cases leaves room for argument that effective jail
programming could yield higher net benefits if
combined with post-release services
 Such programs appear more necessary at the jail level
to prevent future, more serious crime, subsequent
prison sentences, and the associated financial and
social costs
*Assumptions made are not those of the
Washington State Institute for Public Policy
The Importance of Collaboration
Regardless of the quality of any jail industries program
and the agency’s good intentions, jails cannot
accomplish successful offender reentry on their own.
Every agency needs to enlist the assistance of other
governmental and community-based partners. This
approach leverages the initial momentum of jail
industries and other programs, and the work already
being done by partners, so that the total effort is
coordinated, efficient, and measurable.
Dean Mason, Executive Director
Washington State Jail Industries Board
Collaboration
 Opens lines of communication
 Reduces barriers and turf mentality
 Decreases duplication of effort
 Creates a defined continuum of services
during incarceration and post-release
 Saves time, money, resources and lives
Collaboration is the key
to successful offender reentry!
Financial Impact
Financial impact of an effective jail industries program:
 Jail operational costs are lowered through jail
industries’ positive effect on offender behavior
 All levels of government and not-for-profit agencies
can financially benefit from industries operations that
provide products and services at reduced costs to
those agencies, including the jail itself
 Under appropriate circumstances and conditions,
private businesses can utilize jail industries to
perform work not currently done in the community
and to develop future non-incarcerated workers
Social Impact
Social impact of an effective jail industries program:
 Offenders develop social awareness, responsibility,
work ethics, and self-esteem
 They develop usable employment skills
 They become tax payers versus tax burdens
 The largest impact, however, is the evidence-based
reduction in recidivism that not only results in huge
financial savings to the taxpayers, but more
importantly results in the reduction of personal costs
in lives, suffering, and property loss for victims
Conclusion
Jails reenter offenders back to the community sooner
and in much larger numbers than do prisons. The
statistics and research indicate that our best
opportunity to prevent an individual’s continued
criminal behavior and avoid an eventual sentence to
prison is to provide evidence-based programming
during their time in jail and post-release. A
combination of education, vocational training,
cognitive-behavioral therapy, and jail industries
employment is good public policy that can assist in
ensuring a successful reentry strategy for local jails
and the communities they serve.